Research Methodologies

The module is aimed at introducing the students to the philosophy of social sciences and the theories of the social sciences. The main aim of the course is to extensively examine research strategies, research design and various research methodologies and research methods. Particular emphasis will be given to qualitative research methodologies. The course aims to highlight various types of research methods, but will particularly focus on discourse analysis, content analysis, observation methods and survey methods. Among the survey methods, interviews and mail questionnaires will particularly be examined.

Core Module for MA Islamic Studies and MA Islamic Banking, Finance & Management

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• Philosophy of Social Sciences
• Theories of Social Sciences
• Designing Research
• Strategies and Frameworks of Research
• The Management of Research
• Research Methodologies
• Research Methods
• Approaches to Data Collection
• Survey Methods
• Observation Methods
• Institutional and Organisational Research
• Analysing Data
• The Ethics and Politics of Social Research
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Hollis, M., (1994) The Philosophy of Social Science: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Knowledge and Understanding

On successful completion of the module students should be able to:

1. Understand the philosophy and theories of the social sciences
2. Demonstrate ability to recognize and use the various types of research methods, in particular discourse analysis, content analysis, observation and survey methods
3. Examine and analyse different kinds of data assembled through various research methods

Skills

By the end of the module, students should have developed skills in: 

1. Communicate their results from individual research in a variety of formats: oral, written and visual
2. Develop problem solving skills. Exercise and assessment work will form the main vehicles for the development of problem solving skills
3. Understanding and ability to apply and critically evaluate different forms of research methods
4. The submission of a comprehensive individual research proposal will be an important vehicle to develop the students’ ability to learn and work independently
5. Prepare a research proposal and conduct research

Each student should participate in 300 hours of effort, including lectures (12 hours), tutorials 12 hours), student presentations (6 hours), plus guided personal study amounting to 270 hours in all.

• An outline research proposal including your proposed research methodology. Word count should be 2500 words excluding bibliography and references [60% of total mark].
• Critical Review of 2 articles at 1000 x words each [40% of total mark]

• Blanche, M. T. and Durrheim, K. (eds.), (1999) Research in Practice: Applied Methods for the Social Science. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press.
• De Vaus, D. A., (1996) Surveys in Social Research, Fourth Edition. London: University College London Press.
• Hollis, M., (1994) The Philosophy of Social Science: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press